I swear that woman in white at :40 is a zombie, lich, or some kind of undead!


The shield wall is thousands of years old. There are examples of it going as far back as the Sumerians. Just about every culture that developed the shield also came up with the shield wall. It isn't rocket science after all. Just everyone with a shield stands next to one another, and stays there. Though apparently to filmmakers, it is rocket science...

TV shows these days apparently prefer to cater to the modern audience's desire for more sex and/or violence rather than historical accuracy. A pity really, but they wouldn't get the budget they need otherwise.

That said, I am loving season 4 of Vikings so far.

I watched the series(which I was rather disappointed with in all honesty, for a host of reasons) and in one episode Uhtred was teaching Alfred's men all about the shieldwall. Presumably it was to make the main character even more central and important. Or maybe they figured a lot of viewers would have seen Vikings and would think of the shieldwall as a Viking thing.

Watched Goldeneye earlier, haven't see it in years. In my opinion, Pierce Brosnan is second only to Sean Connery(though admittedly, by a sizable margin) as James Bond. Damn good films, which I picked up cheap the other day

Well, except for Die Another Day, that one was pretty cringeworthy, so I didn't buy it.

The only problem with Goldeneye is that it makes me miss the old N64 game...

I finished up Season 3 of Vikings and the first four episodes of Season 4. So I am all caught up. I am still disappointed that Lagertha did not kill Kalf in Season 3. Hopefully she will do it in Season 4.

This time around I caught a few words that people were saying in Old Norse and Old English. In the scene where Thorstein goes to his death after losing his arm, the Saxons shooting him with arrows are speaking in Old English, and the subtitles go something like "See, he's no shaman." But the word they say for shaman is pronounced 'Witcha' (which is written as 'Wicca", and is the earliest form of the word 'Witch'). I thought that was a really good touch. Although I don't know why they didn't use the word Witch in the subtitles...

Then later during one of the battles for Paris one of the Vikings shouts "Skjaldborg". Which is the Old Norse word for 'Shieldwall'. But the word 'shieldwall' did not appear in the subtitles. So points added for using the word in the spoken dialogue, but taken away for it not being in the text.

It dawns on me that I forgot to mention having watched the last of my four recent silent film purchases, Thief of Bagdad. This is the one I was worried I might not like. My fears proved groundless. At first it did little for me. Some minutes in it began to grow on me. Before too long it became suitably entertaining. It had me smiling by the end. That said, as a movie this is prolly the weakest of the four. It's not a filmed, nice as it is, I'd recommend as an early purchase/watch for anyone new to silents. Fine video and audio quality, and yet another excellent Carl Davis music score.

Otherwise my video watching has been confined to YouTube. I chanced on yet another British series on the beginnings of American cinema. Its first episode often rubbed me the wrong way, due largely to the presenter. I almost didn't continue on, but am glad I did. Episode two, focused on the Fatty Arbuckle murder case, was far better. I quite enjoyed it. Sadly, episode three (and any further episodes) can not be found. Leastwise I couldn't find them.

Just finished season two and almost all of season 3 of vikings...also was forced to watch 3 hours of MLP with my little sisters when I was babysitting them...it's a guilty pleasure of mine *grins*

Between yesterday evening and this this morning I watched the final two sides/hours of my laserdisc of the Francis Ford Coppola version of Abel Gance's 1927 silent Napoleon. Image quality wasn't always the best. The source material would definitely benefit from extensive restoration. Still, when the source permits it, the image can look surprisingly sharp and detailed, considering we're dealing with a long obsolete video format, upscaled to 1080p via my A/V receiver. Audio quality ain't all that great.

As to the movie itself, I am decidedly undecided. I greatly admire its innovative camera work and editing, but sometimes have trouble staying focused on the storyline. I suspect this might be due in part to Carmine Coppola's music score. I am less and less convinced his music does the film justice, though it has its moments. Also, Coppola 'shortened' the film to four hours for commercial/economic considerations. It's possible that if restored to its proper length (so far as is possible) the story would be easier to grasp. Or maybe I'm just a doofus.

I'd love to reassess the film in its 5 1/2hr version with the Carl Davis music score. That edition will supposedly be released on DVD and blu-ray later this year or next. l hoped to buy it then. It's now pretty much confirmed that Coppola will not allow any US commercial release of Napoleon that does not include his father's music. Had I a region-free DVD or blu-ray player I could order a copy from Amazon.uk, but that's not likely to happen.

I almost forgot to mention that famous three-screen ending, even with less than stellar image quality, remains darn impressive!

Shortening the movie might well be what is making it harder to follow the storyline. Some stories are so big, they just cannot be told in the standard 2 hour running time film studios want. Or even 4 hours! The most recent attempt to do Pride and Prejudice in just 2 hours fell flat for me, because it tried to squeeze too much into too small a space. Such a big story like that needs the 6 hours that the 1995 BBC mini-series gave it.

So now that I have my 4k player for my 4k tv, what am I watching? Pi. A movie deliberately shot in grainy black and white. Still love this film!

Just finished watching American Pie 2. I think it was even better than the first one, which I watched a few nights ago. Great music - Blink 182, Sum 41, 3 Doors Down, Fennix TX, The Lemonheads, Michelle Branch, Uncle Kracker, etc... it all takes me back. And some really funny scenes. I just loved the Lesbian Artifacts!

Maybe tomorrow I will do American Pie 3, if it gets here from Netflix by then.

Brave Sir Robin

One of my favorite parts of this movie which is probably on my top 10 list of best movies of all time

Just finished watching Crimson Peak. Excellent movie. There are ghosts in it, but it is not a ghost story. Plus, Tom Hiddleston. I especially liked the protagonist - played by Mia Wasikowska. She seems like a fragile flower, but proves to be the toughest of the bunch by the end.

American Pie 3 came in the mail today, so that is what I am watching. The dvd has a lot of scratches though, and its having problems with the playback. I think I might go out and see if I can buy the whole set on blu-ray.

I got as far as the gay dance battle though. I love that scene! And once again, more great music that takes me back to turn of the millennium - Foo Fighters, Good Charlotte, New Found Glory, All-American Rejects, Gob. Everything I was listening to back then.

Is this the scene? I love this one:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NteoKAN6gYc


(A kind of "Zoolander" moment, )

That's the one. It had me laughing my ass off.

Same here!

Just finished watching Hayao Miyazaki's Castle in the Sky (Laputa) on DVD. Very nice image quality when upscaled to 1080p. As is my decided preference, I watched it in its original language with English subtitles rather than the English language (default) option.

I first saw the film while in the military stationed in Japan during the late 80s. A friend brought both it and Akira to my off-base apartment as Laserdisc rentals. Akira did absolutely nothing for me, but I was instantly enraptured by Laputa. Years later I made it an early DVD purchase.

This time round, I watched it up until everyone arrives at Laputa a number of evenings ago, then became too sleepy to continue. I meant to finish up in the morning, but as luck would have it felt too poorly for serious movie watching the next several days. By the time I got to feeling better absent-minded me had forgotten about it . . . until this morning. The break did no harm, familiar as I am with the film.

At YouTube, I watched this interesting discussion of Mail Coifs by Lindybeige. I had not realized how few actual historic coifs survived the ages.

I always watch anime or other non-'Merican films in their native languages, with English subtitles on. You not only hear the emotion in the actors voices, but after a while you start to pick up a few words.

This morning I watched a trailer for the upcoming remake of Ben Hur. Meh

It remained me that, thanks to a discussion at the film forum I recently joined, I had planned to watch my laserdisc of the 1926 silent Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ. I'd not viewed it since before being able to upscale laserdiscs to 1080p, and mabe not since my 27" tube TV days. Presentation wise the film is impressive. Image quality is top notch, especially for a mid 1980s restoration. Not perfect mind you, but so good its easy to ignore the few minor imperfections that crop up from time to time. The down side? The picture is so clean I notice how soft it is compared to newer disc formats. Not lease-breaker soft by any means, but regrettable. Fine tinting. The movie's technicolor scenes show to good effect, though being two-strip (color) technicolor are of course wanting by modern standards.

A very big plus, the film is accompanied by a Carl Davis music score. (I'd have had no idea who Davis was when I bought the disc set.) It's fine music in its own right, and fits the mood and often specific actions of the movie very well. Some nice sound effects too.

As for the movie as a movie, I like it quite a lot. I think the 1959 Charlton Heston Ben Hur is overall the better of the two, but not by all that much, and the older film certainly has its moment of glory. The chariot race is very well done and quite exciting, with a buildup of intensity as it progresses. The naval battle ain't bad either.

Alas, I can find no linkable YouTube clips from the 1926 Ben Hur that utilize Carl Davis's music . . . and there was much rejoicing.

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I'm more that half convinced to buy a region-free conventional blu-ray player rather than hold out for a true 4k unit. I don't expect to upgrade my TV or A/V receiver again during this lifetime unless forced by circumstances beyond my control. Neither is 4k capable. Even should I take the 4k plunge, the movies I like to collect on disc tend to be niche products and are unlikely to appears in 4k format for years to come. As for movie streaming, it's never been my thing. In any case my slow DSL connection is incapable of streaming hi-res, high quality video. (And don't forget data caps, mine being, last time I checked, 150gb per month.) A region-free player will let me invest in some British silent film restorations not otherwise available to the American market. This is all thinking out loud and may never come to pass.

Used to watch Deadliest Catch and Gold Rush. The latter may have had an effect on me..

Just prior to my afternoon brisk walk I watched the MCA Home Video laserdisc release of the 1931 Bela Lugosi Dracula. The disc sports the words "RESTORED VERSION" on the jacket front, without explanation. I had forgotten how oddly it ends. Dracula lies dead in his coffin, a stake driver through his heart. His intended bride (????) recovers her senses on his death. She and her fiancee begin the ascend the steps in each others' arms. About mid way up POOF, the end, without any sort of true closure sequence.

I also forgot that Dracula's chief antagonist in the film is Dr van Helsing.

I enjoy watching Dracula every now and again, but don't consider it one of the truly 'great' movies.

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I keep forgetting to mention that I have a laserdisc featuring the Washington DC National Gallery of Art. Amongst its offerings is a video catalog of 1645 of the gallery's artworks. The disc is in CAV format, allowing individual pieces to be viewed as still images. I had high hopes they would look excellent on a modern LCD TV upscaled to 1080p. Alas. They're unwatchably blurry. Such a disappointment. No great loss I suppose. I suspect many of these works can nowadays be viewed online.

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@mirocu "Used to watch Deadliest Catch and Gold Rush. The latter may have had an effect on me."
May I assume you refer to the Charlie Chaplin Gold Rush? I have that on VHS buried in a box somewhere. Mine was a pretty dismal presentation. I've not watched that tape prolly since the 80s and do not intend to do so again. That said, Gold Rush is on my short-list of silents to rebuy, this time round in a modern restoration that will hopefully do the movie full justice.

I bought the Star Trek 50th Anniversary discs at Meijer last weekend. Since then I have been having a Trek-athon. I just finished Search For Spock. Next up is Star Trek - Save The Whales.

I also picked up the final Hungry Games movie today. I am not sure when I will get to watching it though. My plan is to do a Hungry marathon and watch all four (probably each a day apart). Not sure when though. My American Pie movies showed up in the mail today. It is the first four Pies on blu-ray (the ones that didn't go direct to video). I never saw the fourth one, so I will want to work that one in somewhere too.

I´m afraid not. I´m talking about that American reality show where they dig for gold in Porcupine, Alaska..

"Star Trek - Save the Whales." LOL, that's exactly what I call it too. Push come to shove, I'd name Wrath of Khan not only my favorite Star Trek movie but also my favorite sci-fi film. I need to rebuy it. My laserdisc Khan is regrettably pan-and-scan, the only way the movie was offered on home video back then.

This evening I watched Who Framed Roger Rabbit? On laserdisc of course. Amazingly good image quality considering the source. So good, in fact, that I don't feel the need to replace it on a newer format unless my LD player goes belly-up or the discs develop laser rot. Not bad sound either, to the extent my ears can judge such things. As for the movie itself, what's not to like?

On the YouTube front, I find myself hooked on What's My Line? episodes.

Really cool you actually have laserdiscs, Decrepit! Aren´t those things like vinyls?

Wrath of Khan is definitely my favorite Trek film as well. Probably most people's. It is all so very personal, which gives the story a raw, emotional edge to it. "To the end, I will grapple with thee!", and of course "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one..."

I guess that's one you either love or hate. It's the one I hate. I think of it as 'Overactors Anonymous'.

My son has just moved after staying with us while in-between apartments. I took advantage of his collection of Monty Python disks as well as browsing his cd's of Mad Magazine.

I Love Mad Magazine!!!!

Yes and no. LPs and LDs share the same disc size, and despite being read by a laser laserdisc video is . . . here's a short introductory video that explains its history and some basics better than I can. Several things not addressed in the video. Due to its superior image quality (compared to VHS/betamax) laserdisc began the trend of showing movies in their original theatrical aspect ratios rather than pan-and-scan. Audio commentary tracks began with laserdisc. (As I might have mentioned, I own the Criterion Collection movie with the first ever audio commentary.) My player predates the 5.1 channel digital sound feature mentioned in the video. Nor does it negate the need to manually flip discs.

Speaking of laserdiscs, today I watched my MCA Encore Edition of Frankenstein.

ADDENDUM: Almost forgot to mention that I watched my laserdisc of the Marx Brothers' Duck Soup sometime yesterday.

Watched two films today, because it's been that kind of day.

Ronin, which is a damn good film, even though it's something of a freak for not killing Sean Bean

And...

Drive Angry, which is absurd, over the top, gratuitous and crazy, but it's so well done that I really don't care

Uh Oh! Disaster for Warner Bros. & DC?

*Warning: even though he specifically says no spoilers... there are spoilers. Be warned.*

I am only about 20 seconds into it, and I am already laughing! I love Angry Joe.

This one doesn't need Joe's help (though he has a video on it). To be fair, I never cared for the original so am prolly not the most sympathetic of judges.

Same here.


So ley me see if I've got this straight: Halzman is a brilliant engineer, no one is better at quantum physics than Erin, and the obligatory black chick (who doesn't even warrant a name) knows NY and can borrow her uncle's car Cadillac...

Nope. Nothing to see here. Moving on.

I don't know, this review made me want to watch it more than I did before, lol. Not just for the stuff he raved about being great, but to see the stuff that really ticked him off too;

He cracks me up, but he is a great reviewer with some really good points.

I started my Hungry Games Marathon yesterday. I plan to watch the second movie today. I find the more times I see these movies, the more I like them. The first time I was pretty underwhelmed, mainly at the world-building. That often seems to suffers most in the latest craze of sci-fi-lite teen movies that the Hungry Games appear to have inspired, especially the Insurgable movies, which I just cannot muster any liking for.

As is the case with all movies, it is the characters that draw me here. I like them - good guys and bad guys. Jennifer Lawrence's portrayal of Kantmiss gives her such life and and enough vulnerability that I can still relate to her. In spite of the fact that as her name implies, she cannot miss with a bow (well, she can, but hey...) She looks scared to death when she volunteers as a tribute, she is literally shaking like a leaf when she goes into the arena, and so on. You can see a normal - real - person there, rather than a super-hero. She makes a great Everyman character - like Kitty Pride from the old X-Men comics - who is thrust into incredible circumstances and rises to the occasion.

As a lesbian, I can also relate to the whole idea of a woman being forced to pretend to love a man, and even using that as a strategy for survival. That has been the reality for millions of women for thousands of years - gay and straight alike.

Donald Sutherland is cool as the Evil Overlord. There is not much to the part really. But that does not matter. He's Donald Sutherland. He can just be himself and you are convinced he is a ruthless, crazy, bastard. I really like Alexander Ludwig as Cato. Granted that is mainly because of his portrayal of Beorn in Vikings. But I find I like seeing him more and more. He's no great actor, but I think he is really cool. I have put him on my list of white male actors under 40 that are actually interesting to watch (pretty much just him and Tom Hiddleston). And of course who doesn't like Lenny Kravitz. Again, a small part, but he just has to be himself to be cool.

Related

Made me laugh

Beginning yesterday evening and finishing up after waking this morning I watched, for the first time, the silent era German film Nosferatu, a Symphony of Horrors. The version I saw at YouTube (there are others) looks to represent the film in the best possible light -- excellent image quality, fine tinting, original music score well recorded, English title cards, a few English subtitles when pages of letters and lists are being shown in close-up.

I enjoyed the film, but was not as enamored with it as I had hoped. I 'am' quite taken with the music. Were my hearing better I'd be very tempted to add it to my disc collection for that reason alone. I still might, but don't see it as a 'must have' to be ordered right away.

Being filmed the year it was (1922), outdoor night scenes are achieved by tinting. Though I full appreciate that this was done from necessity, it might be the silent era limitation I am least accepting of unless done convincingly. I don't find it adequately convicting here much of the time. The very nature of the film exacerbates this, as we on several occasions see the vampire, who can not bear sunlight, outdoors 'at night' when it is quite obviously broad daylight.

I feel the the sped up carriage/coach and wagon scenes are out of character and weaken the film. And while I realize the acting is deliberately 'stylized', I find it at times a bit over-the-top.

The above are nit-picks more so than serious complaints. None are lease-breakers.

It is interesting that a good number of title cards (in English translation) are voiced pretty much word for word in the 1930s Lugosi Dracula.

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Still at YouTube, I came across a short news story of an art restoration from 2012.

I liked Nosferatu. The very first time I saw it, it was terrible though. The music was the problem. In this version it has been replaced with some sort of electonic/techno soundtrack. It ruined the film. Later I saw it in what I think was the original score in a mainly piano score, and it was much better. Have you ever seen Shadow of the Vampire? It is a fictional horror movie about the filming of Nosferatu. It's a delightfully twisted movie, with a dark sense of humor.

I forgot to add a couple of other movies I have watched lately between Hunger Gaming. He Never Died was a really neat little movie starring Henry Rollins. He plays an immortal who is utterly detached from humanity, until he meets his daughter for the first time, and finds his semi-recent past catching up with him. He's not a very nice fellow, and has a habit of eating people when he gets his dander up.

When I watch movies I often find myself wondering what my gaming/fiction characters such as Persephone, Teresa, or Aela would do in the same circumstances. When it comes to Persephone it is usually simple. She would kill everyone without batting an eye. Good thing she is not in any movies, otherwise most action movies would end in about 15 minutes with the rest of the cast dead. Well in this one, the protagonist does exactly what she would.

For example, he walks into his favorite diner, which is now filled with gangsters sent there to kill him, who are holding everyone else hostage. He just calmly walks past them and goes into the bathroom. One of the gangsters follows him in. There is a bang, and he walks out alone a moment later... He sits down at a table. Another gangster then walks up to him, puts a gun against his head, and shoots. He then turns to look at the gangster and stands up, totally unfazed. Gratuitous killing ensues.

Switching genres dramatically, I also watched Wild, with Reese Witherspoon. It is a wonderful movie about a very lost soul finding herself while hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. This is a movie where I found myself thinking that if Teresa were in the protagonist's shoes, she would never leave the trail. With the Mojave Desert, Crater Lake, the Sierra Mountains, and Olympic National Park it is a Bosmer's paradise. Plus an uplifting story of loss, bad choices, and finding the best part of yourself.

Here's the Nosferatu version I watched the other day. Is this what you saw, the 'better' version I mean? If so, do you know its source. I'm thinking to buy it on disc, but don't want to end up with the wrong thing. My best guess is that it is the more recent of the several KINO Nosferatu releases, but the brief clip shown at KINO's site looks somewhat more 'flickery' than my YouTube link. Then again, I saw the Kino clip in a tiny window which might exacerbate the effect.

Thanks for mentioning Shadow of the Vampire. I had not heard of it. Your recommendation and a bit of research have led me to tentatively include it in the movie order I'm slowly amassing at Amazon. Such a shame that many of the films I most want aren't currently available (in the US) in high quality disc releases.

That was not the version of Nosferatu I saw. The music was different. The score of mine was primarily a piano, with a few other instruments supporting it. Not the grand orchestra this one has.

Currently watching Guy Martin's Wall of Death: Live.

It's madness.

Edit: Holy crap, the lunatic did it! 70.3 mph on a Wall of Death!

I finished out my Hunger Gaming. All in all it was good. I think the second film was my favorite. Where the first one basically sets up the world and shows us how things are (as Act I should), the second is where we see the world irrevocably change. I liked seeing that the protagonists were changing the world - wittingly or unwittingly. The third and fourth movies are best viewed together, and thought of as a single entity - as it was a single book. That would have made it over 4 hours long though, so it is obvious why Hollywood decided to split it into two.

At first I was a little disappointed by the ending. I don't want to give out spoilers, just to say the events at the Presidential Palace. But that was before I realized it was not over yet.

Before that point I had been thinking that almost every revolution in history has eventually turned against itself, and ultimately created a new oppressive regime in the place of the old one. The French Revolution, The Russian Revolution, Cuba, Iran, etc...

I was wondering if that was going to happen here. And when we passed that palace scene, I realized that was exactly what was going on. I have to give kudos to Suzanne Collins for that. In fact, rather than give us a very morally simplistic storybook good vs. evil story like the original Star Wars films, the Hungry Games are rather cynical and gritty. Right from the very start with our protagonists pretending to be in love in order to win support of sponsors in the games. While there is a battle of good vs evil, people also do whatever they have to in order to survive, and they all have their own agendas.

Speaking of surviving, Anyone Can Die. So try not to get too attached to people. One death was particularly difficult to swallow. But I understand why it was written that way. Something like that was necessary to act as the emotional catalyst for the real ending of the last film.

All in all I enjoyed the Hungrys very much. I might even buy the books now, to see where they differ.

I've been watching a few TV series' lately. There's The Walking Dead which I think has only one episode left of this series, and Vikings. Vikings is great, but I get annoyed when it starts focusing too much of the story on what's happening in England instead of what the Viking characters are up to!

LM2, what is up with you?! Been so long.

I loved the first 2 or 3 seasons of Walking Dead, when it was mostly people vs. zombies. After that it becomes too much people vs. people for my tastes. Haven't seen Vikings before, maybe I check that out.

Hi Mara! Nice to see you here!

I felt the same way about Season 4 of Vikings. I kept asking myself why they are spending any time at all with what is going on in Wessex? In the 3rd Season it mattered because our vikings were there. But now it seems... irrelevant. Perhaps they plan to take the vikings back to Wessex one day? If that is the case, then I can see why they would want to keep us up on events there.


I have never liked Superman. The character is just too Marty Stu. So I had no desire to see this at all before watching Angry Joe's review. But after hearing what he had to say, I must admit now I am curious. I read somewhere that when it comes out on disc this summer there will be a rated R version. Hopefully Netfix will have it, because I think it is definitely worth a rental.

Now that the box office returns are back it is fun to look at the money it made vs. the incredibly bad reviews it gets from critics. I don't recall the exact numbers off hand, just that it did an astounding amount of money. I believe it was the biggest weekend of any Warner Bros movie ever, and so on. I guess it goes to show that what critics think and what most people think are very different things. Which find rather hilarious.

I just finished Star Trek: Nemesis. This time out I instantly recognized the big bad Shinzon as Tom Hardy. This must have been one of his first movies.

Which one is Nemesis? Is that the one where the Enterprise fights the Bjorn Borg?

Just binge watched season two of Daredevil on Netflix. Overall it is a worthy follow up to the amazing first season, but it misses the gravitas that Vincent D'Onofrio brought to Wilson Fisk imho (though he does make an incredibly satisfying appearance later in the season). Jon Bernthal makes an effective Frank Castle and Elodie Yung kicks Jennifer Garner's you-know-what as Elektra, but both characters seem a little too one note for my taste. Scott Glenn returns as Stick and steals every scene he's in just like he did last year.

Definitely worth watching!